Iceland’s volcano eruption activity is stable and unchanged since last night, and could even subside in the coming days, perhaps before the weekend, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO). and experts.
The eruption is no longer continuous and has subsided somewhat since the volcano began expelling magma on Monday night from a crack about 4 kilometers long on the Reykjanes peninsula, about 4 kilometers northeast of the evacuated city of Grindavik.
Mainly magma is now coming out of one or two magma chimneys, compared to three the previous night, according to the digital edition of Iceland’s public broadcaster RÚV.
Since six this morning only six earthquakes have been recorded on the Reykjanes Peninsula; one of them reached a magnitude of 1.2 and the others were of lower magnitude.
The Civil Defense will report on the evolution of the activity of the Icelandic volcano around 14:00 GMT at the Skógarhlíð Rescue Center, near Reykjavík.
Volcanologist Thorvaldur Thordarson indicated that, although it is difficult to predict the evolution of the volcano, “there are many indications that it will be a short eruption that could stop in the coming days, even before the weekend,” according to RÚV.
In his opinion, there is little chance that more openings will open in the fissure after the activity decreases. He also sees little or no chance of an eruption in or around Grindavík.
IMO natural disaster expert Sigrídur Magnea Oskarsdottir also confirmed that the eruptive activity is subsiding and that he believes there is now only one chimney spewing lava.
According to new lava flow models, the infrastructure most likely to be at risk due to the volcanic eruption is around the road linking Grindavík to the north of the peninsula, heating pipelines and electrical infrastructure.
The city of Grindavík, which was already evacuated on November 10, appears, at least for now, not to be at risk from the lava flow, which is moving northwards, away from the city.
The mayor of Grindavík, Fannar Jónasson, said the day before after his meeting at the Ministry of Infrastructure that residents want defenses to be built in the north of the city. In his opinion, more than a hundred families will urgently need housing until January.
The former president of Iceland between 1996 and 2016, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter) that the lava flow model now predicts that the magma could destroy several infrastructures in Grindavík within a week.
